Apparatus for lifting and vertically separating a plurality of heavy vertically stacked objects



1965 A. M. CARLSON APPARATUS FOR LIFTING AND VERTICALLY SEPARATING A PLURALITY OF HEAVY VERTICALLY STACKED OBJECTS Filed Dec. 24, 1963 FIG?) INVENTOR. ALBERT M. CARLSON United States Patent 3,224,731 APPARATUS FOR LIFTING AND VERTICALLY SEPARATING A PLURALITY OF HEAVY VERTI- CALLY STACKED OBJECTS Albert M. Carlson, 13225 7th St., Chino, Calif. Filed Dec. 24, 1963, Ser. No. 333,005 2 Claims. ((11. 254-131) Generally speaking, the present invention relates to material handling apparatus and, more particularly, relates to apparatus for lifting and vertically separating a plurality of heavy vertically stacked objects, such as lumber, plywood, or the like, so that an upper portion of the lumber pile, or other pile of vertically stacked objects, can be separated from a lower or intermediate portion thereof by a short distance to enable the forks of a fork lift truck to be inserted thereinto for lifting same or for enabling one or more spacer members, which are customarily known in the lumber art as stickers, to be inserted between the vertically separated portions of the lumber pile so that they will be ready for a subsequent lifting operation at any time by reason of said vertical separation which will enable any lifting tool or apparatus or the forks of a fork lift truck, or the like, to be inserted thereinto at any subsequent time.

It should be noted that, without the apparatus of the present invention, the lifting of an upper portion of a lumber pile from a lower portion thereof provides something of a problem since the forks of a conventional fork lift truck have appreciable thickness and it may be found difficult to insert them between upper and lower portions of a lumber pile, thus requiring some sort of manual prying operation to facilitate the insertion of the forks of a fork lift truck. However, the apparatus of the present invention completely solves this problem in the manner detailed above.

With the above points in mind, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel apparatus for lifting and vertically separating, by a selected short distance, a plurality of heavy vertically stacked objects.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide apparatus or a device of the character referred to above which is of extremely simple, inexpensive, foolproof, easy-to-operate construction such as to facilitate the manufacture, distribution, and use of the device.

Further objects are implicit in the detailed description which follows hereinafter (which is to be construed as exemplary only, and which is not to be taken in a limiting sense), and said objects will be apparent to persons skilled in the art after a careful study of the detailed description set forth hereinafter.

For the purpose of clarifying the nature of the present invention, two exemplary embodiments are illustrated in the hereinbelow-described figures of the accompanying single drawing sheet and are described in detail hereinafter.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing one exemplary embodiment of the tapered pry and slitter member of the present invention and showing, in exploded relationship relative thereto, two fragmentary and partially broken away pry and lever bars for applying torque to the tapered pry and splitter member.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary, partial broken away top plan view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 with the two pry and lever bars in engaged torque-applying relationship relative to the tapered pry and splitter member.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary, partly broken away, side view, partly in elevation and partly in section, taken in the direction indicated by the arrows 3-3 of FIG. 2. However, this view is drawn to a somewhat larger scale than FIG. 2.

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FIG. 4 is a greatly reduced size fragmentary perspective view showing a plurality of heavy vertically stacked objects (comprising a pile of lumber in this case) with the apparatus of the present invention in inserted position relative to the vertically stacked lengths of lumber in a normal horizontal planar relationship such as exists prior to applying torque to the tapered pry and splitter member for rotating same into the upright relationship shown in FIG. 5 for correspondingly lifting the portion of the lumber pile thereabove as shown in FIG. 5.

FIG. 5 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary side elevational view of the tapered pry and splitter member and the portion of the near longitudinal pry and lever bar shown in FIG. 4, but illustrating same after torque has been applied and rotation of said tapered pry and splitter member into a substantially vertical plane has been achieved whereby to effectively lift the overlying portion of the lumber pile.

FIG. 6 is a greatly reduced size fragmentary perspective view illustrating a slightly modified form of the pry and lever bar (or bars, depending upon whether one is used or two are used).

Referring to the figures for exemplary purposes, one illustrative embodiment of the invention is shown as comprising a tapered pry and splitter member, indicated generally at 11, which is laterally elongated or may be said to extend in a transverse direction between opposite transverse or lateral ends 11A and 11B thereof. Said tapered pry and splitter member 11 has a forward thin entry edge 12, a rear thick trailing edge 13 (which in one preferred form of the invention is of rounded contour at the bottom rear part thereof, as seen in cross-section), and a tapered substantially wedge-shaped intermediate body portion 14 smoothly tapering from said thick trailing edge 13 to said thin forward entry edge 12.

Said pry and splitter member 11 is provided with at least one torque-applying coupling means cooperable for coupling engagement with respect to the engagement end of a longitudinal torque-applying pry bar so as to make it possible to readily apply torque to the entire tapered pry and splitter member 13 by manually applying force to the opposite end of said longitudinal torque-applying pry bar for purposes which will be described in greater detail hereinafter.

In the exemplary form of the invention illustrated, there are two such torque-applying coupling means, indicated generally at 15A and 15B and, in the exemplary form illustrated, each of said torque-applying coupling means comprises a forwardly and rearwardly elongated aperture-defining means 16A and 16B, respectively, cooperable for the reception of a forward engagement end of the corresponding one of the two longitudinal torqueapplying pry bars, indicated generally at 17A and 17B, respectively.

Said forward engagement ends of said torque-applying pry bars 17A and 17B are indicated generally at 18A and 18B, respectivley, and, in the exemplary form illustrated, comprise offset goosenecked forward engagement end portions 19A and 19B, respectivley, which are adapted to be inserted through the corresponding elongated coupling apertures 16A and 16B, respectively, with the forward part 19A and 19B, respectively, of said engagement means 18A and 18B, respectively, underlying a forward portion of said tapered pry and splitter member 11 adjacent to, and immediately behind, the forward thin entry edge 12 thereof and laterally adjacent to the corresponding one of the two lateral or transverse ends 11A and 11B, respectively, of said tapered pry and splitter member 11. This is most clearly shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, which also clearly illustrate the fact that the portion of each of the pry bars 17A or 17B, respectively, immediately behind the offset goosenecked forward engagement end or portion 19A or 19B, respectively, is adapted to be positioned for forcible abutment with the top surface of a rear part of said tapered pry and splitter member 11 behind the corresponding one of the two aperture-defining portions 16A and 16B, respectively, whereby to facilitate the application of torque to said tapered pry and splitter member 11 by manual forcible application of force in a downward direction to the opposite or rear ends 21A and 21B, respectively, of the corresponding torque-applying pry bars 17A and 17B, respectively.

The thin forward entry edge 12 of the tapered pry and splitter member 1 1 may be said to be effectively sharpened so as to be thin enough to allow it to be very readily slidably moved between vertically adjacent portions of a plurality of heavy vertically stacked objects, such as between an upper portion, indicated generally at 22U, of a vertically stacked pile of lumber, indicated generally at 22, and a middle portion, indicated generally at 22M of said vertically stacked pile of lumber 22, as is clearly shown in FIG. 4. When the forward thin entry edge 12 of the tapered pry and splitter member 11 is slidably moved into the position shown in FIG. 4 between the vertically adjacent lumber pile portions 22U and 22M, then torque is applied thereto by manually applying downward force to the pry bar ends 21A and 21B, respectively. This will cause forcible rotation of the tapered pry and splitter member 11 around a laterally directed axis extending along the lateral length thereof and usually substantially coincident with, and along, the forward thin entry edge 12 of said tapered pry and splitter member 11. This normally occurs because the effectively sharpened thin forward entry edge 12 of the tapered pry and splitter member 11 tends to slightly bite into the underneath surface of the lowermost pieces of lumber of the upper lumber pile portion 22U when torque is applied to said tapered pry and splitter member 11 by the torqueapplying pry bars 17A and 17B, while the rear thick and rounded trailing edge 13 of said tapered pry and splitter member 11 does note bite into the upper surface of the middle lumber pile portion 22M, but instead slides along the top surface thereof until a vertical position is reached of such as is shown in fragmentary enlarged form in FIG. 5.

This forcible rotation of the tapered pry and splitter member 11 from the substantially horizontal planar relationship shown in FIGS. 2-4 into the substantially vertical relationship shown in FIG. acts to effectively vertically lift the upper lumber pile port-ion 22U away from the middle lumber pile portion 22M so as to vertically separate same by a short distance, such as that designated at 23 in FIG. 5, which is sufficient to allow the blades of a fork lift truck to be inserted thereinto for subsequent lifting of the upper lumber pile portion 22U, as desired, or sufilcient for the insertion into said vertical space 23 of spacer members which are commonly known in the lumber trade as stickers, such as indicated at 24 in FIG. 4, which has previously been placed in the short vertical distance separating the middle lumber pile portion 22M from the lower lumber pile portion 22L when they were previously vertically separated through the use of the apparatus of the present invention in substantially the same manner as just described above in connection with the separation operation of the upper and middle lumber pile portions 22U and 22M. Of course, the insertion of such a sticker 24 will permanently maintain the vertical separation distance or spacing until such time as a fork lift truck or other mode of handling the separated lumber pile portion is brought into use.

From the above description, it will be understood that the present invention primarily may be said to comprise a pile separator which is particularly useful in splitting or vertically separating loads of lumber, plywood, and the like, although not specifically so limited in all forms of the invention.

It should be noted that, in certain forms of the invention, the number of pry bars may be modified. For example, in some forms of the invention, only one pry bar need be used, while in other forms of the invention several may be used. Of course, the coupling means would be correspondingly modified in number also and, additionally, it should be noted that the type of pry bar forward engagement end, such as shown at 18A and 183 in the exemplary form of the invention illustrated in FIGS. l-5, may be modified within the broad spirit and scope of the present invention, as may the type of coupling means, one exemplary form of which is illustrated at 15A and 1513 in the exemplary form of the invention shown in FIGS. 1-5 of the drawing.

FIG. 6 illustrates, in greatly reduced size, fragmentary form, a slightly modified version of a typical one of the two pry bars, and corresponding parts are indicated by similar reference numerals, primed, however. It will be noted that the main difference in this modified form of pry bar 17B is the fact that the rear portion thereof extends upwardly rather than directly rearwardly, as in the first form of the invention, and terminates in an upwardly curvedly displaced rear end portion 21B. This makes it possible to use the device even when vertically separating loads of lumber, or the like, at very low levels very close to an underlying ground surface since it will never be necessary to move the rear end 2113' of the pry bar 17B below a horizontal level and this will minimize any vertical clearance problems involved in vertically separating loads of lumber or the like at such very low levels and very small vertical clearances above an underlying ground surface, or the like. Of course, it should be noted that the pry bar is not necessarily limited to the exact con-tour shown in FIG. 6, but may be modified substantially within the broad spirit and scope of the present invention.

It should be understood that the figures and the specific description thereof set forth in this application are for the purpose of illustrating the present invention and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention to the precise and detailed specific structure shown in the figures and specifically described hereinbefore. Rather, the real invention is intended to include substantially equivalent constructions embodying the basic teachings and inventive concept of the present invention.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for lifting and vertically separating, by a selected short distance, a plurality of heavy vertically stacked objects, comprising: a tapered pry and splitter member extending in a transverse direction and having a forward thin entry edge, a rear thick and rounded trailing edge and a tapered substantially wedge-shaped intermediate body portion smoothly tapering from said thick trailing edge to said thin forward entry edge; at least one pry and lever bar provided with a forward engagement end for forcibly applying torque to said tapered pry and splitter member; said pry and splitter member being provided with at least one forwardly and rearwardly elongated torque-applying coupling aperture-defining means cooperable for the reception of said forward engagement end of said torque-applying pry and lever bar for the application of torque thereto by forcible manual movement of the opposite end of said pry and lever bar and for the transmission of said applied torque to said tapered pry and splitter member in a direction such as to cause forcible rotation thereof about a laterally directed axis extending along the lateral length thereof whereby to forcibly rotate said tapered pry and splitter member from a substantially horizontal plane between adjacent vertically stacked heavy objects into a substantially vertically directed plane with said heavy objects positioned thereabove vertically lifted and separated from vertical objects spaced therebelow by a desired vertical distance, said thin forward edge of said tapered pry and splitter member being effectively sharpened and adapted to non-slidably engage the underneath surface of vertically adjacent ones of said heavy objects positioned thereabove during said forcible rotation of said tapered pry and splitter member from said substantially horizontal plane into said substantially vertical plane, said rear rounded trailing edge of said tapered pry and splitter member being slidably cooperable with underlying ones of said heavy objects as said tapered pry and splitter member is forcibly rotated from said substantially horizontal plane into said substantially vertical plane; said forward engagement end of said pry and lever bar comprising an offset goosenecked portion adapted to be inserted through said elongated coupling aperture-defining means of said tapered pry and splitter member with a forward part of said offset goosenecked portion of said forward engagement end underlying a forward portion of said tapered pry and splitter member and with another portion of said pry and lever bar positioned immediately behind said offset goosenecked portion of said forward engagement end being positioned for forcible abutment with the top surface of a rear part of said tapered pry and splitter member whereby to facilitate the application of torque to said tapered pry and splitter member.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1, wherein said torqueapplying coupling means are two in number and are positioned at each end of said laterally elongated tapered pry and splitter member and are symmetrically positioned with respect to the center thereof and are similarly positioned with respect to a laterally directed axis of rotation thereof when rotated from said substantially horizontal relationship into said substantially vertical relationship while positioned between vertically stacked heavy objects, and wherein there are two of said pry and lever bars, each being cooperable with a different one of said two couping means for applying torque thereto.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1910 Hale 254l3l X 3/1949 Swenson 254-431 

1. APPARATUS FOR LIFTING AND VERTICALLY SEPARATING, BY A SELECTED SHORT DISTANCE, A PLURALITY OF HEAVY VERTICALLY STACKED OBJECTS, COMPRISING: A TAPERED PRY AND SPLITTER MEMBER EXTENDING IN A TRANSVERSE DIRECTION AND HAVING A FORWARD THIN ENTRY EDGE, A REAR THICK AND ROUNDED TRAILING EDGE AND A TAPERED SUBSTANTIALLY WEDGE-SHAPED INTERMEDIATE BODY PORTION SMOOTHLY TAPERING FROM SAID THICK TRAILING EDGE TO SAID THIN FORWARD ENTRY EDGE; AT LEAST ONE PRY AND LEVER BAR PROVIDED WITH A FORWARD ENGAGEMENT END FOR FORCIBLY APPLYING TORQUE TO SAID TAPERED PRY AND SPLITTER MEMBER; SAID PRY AND SPLITTER MEMBER BEING PROVIDED WITH AT LEAST ONE FORWARDLY AND REARWARDLY ELONGATED TORQUE-APPLYING COUPLING APERTURE-DEFINING MEANS COOPERABLE FOR THE RECEPTION OF SAID FORWARD ENGAGEMENT END OF SAID TORQUE-APPLYING PRY AND LEVER BAR FOR THE APPLICATION OF TORQUE THERETO BY FORCIBLE MANUAL MOVEMENT OF THE OPPOSITE END OF SAID PRY AND LEVER BAR AND FOR THE TRANSMISSION OF SAID APPLIED TORQUE TO SAID TAPERED PRY AND SPLITTER MEMBER IN A DIRECTION SUCH AS TO CAUSE FORCIBLE ROTATION THEREOF ABOUT A LATERALLY DIRECTED AXIS EXTENDING ALONG THE LATERIAL LENGTH THEREOF WHEREBY TO FORCIBLY ROTATE SAID TAPERED PRY AND SPLITTER MEMBER FROM A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL PLANE BETWEEN ADJACENT VERTICALLY STACKED HEAVY OBJECTS INTO A SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICALLY DIRECTED PLANE WITH SAID HEAVY OBJECTS POSITIONED THEREABOVE VERTICALLY LIFTED AND SEPARATED FROM VERTICAL OBJECTS SPACED THEREBELOW BY A DESIRED VERTICAL DISTANCE, SAID THIN FORWARD EDGE OF SAID TAPERED PRY AND SPLITTER MEMBER BEING EFFECTIVELY SHARPENDED AND ADAPTED TO NON-SLIDABLY ENGAGE THE UNDERNEATH SURFACE OF VERTICALLY ADJACENT ONES OF SAID HEAVY OBJECTS POSITIONED THEREABOVE DURING SAID FORCIBLE ROTATION OF SAID TAPERED PRY AND SPLITTER MEMBER FROM SAID SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTALLY PLANE INTO SAID SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL PLANE, SAID REAR ROUNDED TRAILING EDGE OF SAID TAPERED PRY AND SPLITTER MEMBER BEING SLIDABLY COOPERABLE WITH UNDERLYING ONES OF SAID HEAVY OBJECTS AS SAID TAPERED PRY AND SPLITTER MEMBER IS FORCIBLY ROTATED FROM SAID SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL PLANE INTO SAID SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICAL PLANE; SAID FORWARD ENGAGEMENT END OF SAID PRY AND LEVER BAR COMPRISING AN OFFSET GOOSENECKED PORTION ADAPTED TO BE INSERTED THROUGH SAID ELONGATED COUPLING APERTURE-DEFINING MEANS OF SAID TAPERED PRY AND SPLITTER MEMBER WITH A FORWARD PART OF SAID OFFSET GOOSENECKED PORTION OF SAID FORWARD ENGAGEMENT END UNDERLYING A FORWARD PORTION OF SAID TAPERED PRY AND SPLITTER MEMBER AND WITH ANOTHER PORTION OF SAID PRY AND LEVER BAR POSITIONED IMMEDIATELY BEHIND SAID OFFSET GOOSENECKED PORTION OF SAID FORWARD ENGAGEMENT END BEING POSITIONED FOR FORCIBLE ABUTMENT WITH THE TOP SURFACE OF A REAR PART OF SAID TAPERED PRY AND SPLITTER MEMBER WHEREBY TO FACILITATE THE APPLICATION OF TORQUE TO SAID TAPERED PRY AND SPLITTER MEMBER. 